Gentle warning, this chapter gets a bit spicy. Read at your own risk in public :P
Dakath's POV
Ink splattered from the dip pen in Dakath's grasp, dropping onto the unfinished letter he had before him. He felt a rush of cold over his body as he stared at the ruined page, the word 'apologies', written in an elegant script, was blotted out by the drop of ink. He swiped his hand in frustration, knocking the ink all over the floor.
The nixie's face was all Dakath could see as he took deep breaths. He knew her kind well. Lxora was a calculating warrior turned Queen of the Undersea who utilized their services frequently.
They were both supposed to take the thrones together. Be the new king and queen for the land and sea. His father's grip on the throne made sure he could not ascend at the expected time, and the war became a convenient reason for the delay in change of leadership.
Dakath knew he used her pity for him to form the bond he needed to gain her trust to give him the pearl. With human and faerie babies being outlawed a decade ago and no full blooded faeries being born in the last century. The war was going to cause the extinction of his species. His plan was harsh and long played but he knew in his gut that it was the only way he could stop the war.
The howling sound of his blood rushing to his ears was deafening. He took a swig from the engraved bottle that the brownie had rested on the large oak desk for him earlier. The disappointment when the last drop fell into his mouth was hard to ignore and he tossed the bottle to the side.
"Lxora what are you planning?" he muttered as his free hand fluttered through the loose curls on his head. It took him three years to entangle himself with the young queen to get the pearl from her. It would be three wasted years if he didn't confirm what the nixie wanted from Leia. It could either be Leia or the pearl, both would be a suitable revenge for the broken heart he left behind in the sea.
He stood quickly, his hands tightening on the back of the wooden chair he had been sitting on. Letting his irritation pour out of him into the chair, it crumbled at his touch until it was nothing but dust. He kicked at the dust, wanting nothing more than to scream to the rising sun. His heart thumped against the walls of his chest and he ran a heavy hand through his hair again, tugging at it slightly before releasing it.
His shoulders slumped in defeat.
Lxora was always a stubborn one. If she had figured out his plan then she would know their connection wasn't as natural as he made her believe. No apology letter could absolve him of her wrath and he knew it.
A faint knock on the door drew him from the whirlwind of thoughts swirling in his mind. "Roarke, not now," he said, sure that his brother had finally come to berate him on how he should have never agreed to outlaw glamouring humans. He was already too far gone with the alcohol reaching his head to have that conversation with his brother.
Leia's soft giggle drifted through the space between the two of them. Her vanilla and salt scent wrapped around him like a blanket and it was then that he realized he was shivering with emotion. My gosh, she is beautiful, he thought.
His mind was starting to become cloudy, but something about her presence kept him anchored to the present with her. He was tired of pretending to hold all the cards. Tired of locking her from his sight so that a situation like this wouldn't happen, and yet the two of them stood in an empty bedroom with nothing but his weakening willpower keeping himself from her.
"You sound like me with my brothers," she mused. "May I come in?" Her voice was firm, but held an uncertainty in it that drew Dakath closer to her. He knew all about her connection with her brothers from what he had seen in her mind, though he feigned ignorance.
"You may, princess," he said.
She nodded gingerly before crossing the room and gracefully positioning herself at the edge of one of the cushioned seats before his bed. "Please, just Leia is fine."
Dakath took the seat opposite her, any ease they had with each other was long gone. The two of them in his bedroom at Linhaven, so close yet so far apart, was enough to make Dakath shift in his seat, a tiny sign of his discomfort. Leia's eyes tracked every move of his body, and he knew she noticed it.
Her eyes lit up and he pressed his lips in a thin line to keep from smirking at her. She interested him in many ways, but her ability to read a person and move accordingly fascinated him. She was just as skilled at strategy as he was.
"What brings you to my quarters?" He kept his face blank as he observed her. Her heartbeat raised at the question and her breathing became uneven. Sitting there with the strays of sunlight against her skin, Leia glowed.
Humans had a warmth to their skin that had always intrigued Dakath. They seemed to radiate heat like a fire in the dead of night. Time slowed as he watched her run her tongue against her lower lip, her hands fidgeting in her lap. He couldn't help the smile that creeped onto his face, the alcohol warming his insides with its bitter heat.
"I need you to be honest with me," she said, daring a look in his eyes. He held her gaze as he thought over what she had just said with a raised eyebrow. It seemed some honesty was exactly what they both needed right now.
He relaxed into his seat, though Leia stayed straight as a pin on hers.
"The faeries you scared off the other day said something about my mother being the cause of the war." She abandoned her appearance of decorum and started that dreadful pacing in front of Dakath. "Wh-what do they mean by that?"
Tears threatened to spill from her eyes and Dakath didn't know if it was his traitor of a mind or the alcohol that caused him to advance towards her and brush a gentle finger across her cheek just as a tear fell. She took a step back and looked up at him. Her bright hazel eyes wide with fear, at him or the thought of her mother being the cause of the horror that had befallen both their worlds, he wasn't sure. "Tell me they're wrong."
Her hands intertwined each other in a nervous dance. He took hold of each one, sending his calm through his hands and into hers. "I cannot tell a lie."
Those words were enough to pop whatever bubble of hope and confidence that she walked in the room with. She slid to her knees, placing her head in her hands. "Oh God," she cried.
Dakath wondered what he could possibly say to ease her pain. There was no way to alter his words to prevent the shattering of her world from the truth. "Your mother was a consort to my father for a blink of time. She insisted early on to be turned into one of us, and when he declined and ended what they had, she marched her soldiers onto our shores making every human aware of our kind and teaching them to fear us."
He lowered himself to her and with tender hands, he lifted her chin so that their faces were mere inches away from each other. "We can end this, together."
Weak sobs came out from Leia's mouth and he felt his stomach knotting up. It pained him to see her like this.
"My mother wasn't the most present or caring after my father passed, but what you're telling me is-" she hiccuped and dissolved into more sobbing.
"My father wasn't there for me either as a young fae. He was quite the terrible model of a father. He treated Atreyu the worst," he said, slinking into a more comfortable seating position on the floor.
That got her attention. "Atreyu? Why?" She seemed to pause in her revelations and he smiled. Atreyu had a way of getting on everyone's good side. You couldn't not care about him.
Dakath shrugged, casually wiping her tears away with one hand. She didn't protest, instead she sat closer to him, waiting for him to speak again. "He was born blind, and yet he could see everything. Possible futures, terrible pasts. It scared the great king it seemed." He spat the word. His father was a monster, but for Leia's sake he swallowed down the curses he wanted to speak on his father's name.
"The point is, our parents aren't perfect, very much like us. The war is simply a reflection of their flaws and I know in my very soul that we can put an end to it," he said.
Leia watched him in a way he couldn't understand. Her lips were slightly pout and her nose was red and pudgy from her crying. He felt a flicker of heat in his chest and he could not stop the urge to taste her lips.
He didn't have to lean forward much. Their lips softly touched and Dakath hesitated before pushing deeper. Time slowed as she opened her mouth to let him in. If their last kiss was a hurricane crashing down onto an island, this kiss was the drizzle of dew on the still grass that shone in the light of a full moon.
She was just as tired as him. Her frustration and fatigue flowed into him before he melted it away, sending his feelings for her through their clashing lips. It was hard for him to speak of his attraction for her, especially when they were both on opposing sides of a war. But this, this was his way of assuring her that her feelings were reciprocated.
He pulled her close, bathing himself in her scent, their hearts pounding to the beat of one another. He picked her up in one smooth motion and stumbled to the bed. The dress the glamoured human had given her when she returned from the tavern was much more extravagant than the simple wear he clothed her with. Probably at her request. He pulled at it, only to find a piece of clothing wrapped around her waist from under her bust and down to her hips.
A growl escaped his mouth as he searched for a way to take it off. She huffed, smiling wickedly at him as she pulled him closer for another kiss.
He could feel her urgency in her touch, firm and hurried as she pulled his shirt over his head. His necklace dangled between their chests but he made no move to remove it. Instead he settled with tearing the remaining fabric on her body until he finally touched skin.
He paused, searching her eyes for any sign of resistance. She had none. He took his time exploring her slight curves with his mouth, growling again, this time in satisfaction. His lips were smooth against her warm skin and she moaned with excitement. He fumbled with his pants which was unlike him but something about Leia made him nervous.
She placed a hand over his and he froze, afraid that that was his signal to stop.
"Let me," she said as she helped him undress.
The war had stolen a lot from them, and just then, between the pockets of time, they let themselves go.
***
Leia's POV
Leia awoke to find the room bathed in a red glow. She crawled out of the bed, grappling for her clothes.
Fear gripped her sides as she got dressed. Before leaving, she looked back at Dakath in the bed, his face the picture of peace in his sleep.
The duvet was wrapped around his body and she wanted nothing more than to slip herself between him and the fabric and stay forever in the little cocoon of their making. A lump formed in her throat. A deal was made that had to be paid, she reminded herself before ducking out of the room and making her way to the river in the castle.
"Tick tock, little human,
Your time is up."
She heard the sweet voice of the maiden before she saw her. This time she had chosen to appear in her beautiful form. Her green hair flowing like a waterfall around her petite shoulders.
Leia bit back her fear. She focused on her breathing and kept her voice clear of emotion, "I couldn't get it from him." She had tried, but after what happened, what they shared together. She simply couldn't.
You will trade your soul on a whim of passion?
The prince has secrets, little human
His plan is far from done.
An enchantment they will give the queen
Poured into your water,
The land of faeries, your people will think, a dream.
Faeries will come and go
All will be as it was before the war
The humans will never know.
Her heart thumped as it did in the bed with him, though this time she felt the sick curling of dread in her stomach. Her muscles knotted in response. "No, that's not right. We spoke about his plan and that was not part of it. Faeries can't lie," she said. Betrayal tasted sour in her mouth and her lungs squeezed as it struggled to take in air. The maiden didn't need to speak again. Leia knew she was right. They couldn't lie once they spoke but they can choose their words to hide parts of their truth.
Little human, you have no pearl
I shall take what is dearest to the prince
Join me now, I shall have your soul.
She had no time to react to the maiden's words. A clawed hand reached out of the water and wrapped around her wrist.
The scream that ripped from Leia's throat echoed through the castle. She tried to pull her hand from the maiden's grip but it was like an iron clamp. With one swift pull from the maiden, Leia was under the water. She fought against her hold while the water cascaded into her mouth as she was dragged deeper, her consciousness slipping away.
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Author's Note
So I tried a thing... I did my best to add in just enough spice. Not too much and not too little. This is also my first time trying to further my skills in writing this kind of intimate scene so please do comment your thoughts/reactions when you do read the scene!
Thank you all for continuing to follow the story! The War of Crowns has officially made it past the first round of ONC. It is my first ONC so I'm pretty excited about that. I'd like to thank those who have congratulated me on it. I appreciate your support!
Also, I have friends and read such amazing works that did not make it through. I'd like to give a big virtual hug to them. You guys are amazing and I will continue to be reading and enjoying your ONC admission if you keep working on it!
(17,297 words minus Author's Notes etc.)
With Love,
Miriam <3